A phased refurbishment of a circa 1900 family home in Highams Park, restoring what eight decades of care preserved while rebuilding the house, its services and its fabric for the next eighty years. We are still currently working on this project and you can keep update with our progress on our Instagram account.

One family owned this house from 1942 until 2025. Eighty-three years. When its new owners took it on, they made a decision that shapes everything we’re doing on site – refurbish in phases, and respect what that care had preserved. Projects like this take time, and they should. Every decision is weighed against one question – will this still be right in 50 years?

Scope of Works

The first completed rooms show the approach in practice. In the main reception, the original cornicing, ceiling roses, skirtings and decorative detailing have been repaired rather than replaced, and the fireplace has been reopened and fitted with a multi-fuel stove, back at the centre of the room where it belongs. Next door, the former rear reception is now a children’s playroom in bold colours with bespoke shelving. Period homes can carry personality without losing their character.

Behind the finishes, a full rewire and new plumbing and heating system are going in, along with new double glazed timber sash windows that improve comfort without changing the home’s proportions. Cork based insulated plasters, natural lime plasters and breathable limewash paints are used throughout, so the original fabric can breathe as it was designed to.

Outside, the side garage has been demolished and replaced with a reconfigured extension housing a new garage, downstairs shower room and utility room. Decades of cement render have come off the rear facades to reveal the original London stock brickwork, now being repointed in traditional lime mortar. The final phase will bring new paving, gabion retaining walls and planting to the split-level garden.

Our Role

MATTR Projects is the main contractor, delivering the refurbishment in phases so the family’s plans and budget lead the programme rather than the other way round.

The same team carries each phase, from conservation repairs and breathable fabric specification through to the rewire, heating and external works.

More from site as the next phase progresses. If you own a period property and want it upgraded without stripping out what makes it worth owning, talk to us.